


Dance With Me

by SEpupppupp (ForNought)



Category: Produce 101 (TV)
Genre: Confession, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I Got Lazy, M/M, Wedding, alcohol mention, eungi with a g, everyone is confused, i guess they're dancers, unnamed family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 09:52:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11273061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForNought/pseuds/SEpupppupp
Summary: Eungi needs a date to his cousin's wedding and somehow his only option is Jungjung





	Dance With Me

**Author's Note:**

> honestly fake-dating is one of my favourite tropes so i wrote this. short. not so sweet.

“You have to pretend to be my boyfriend,” Eungi said very seriously. Jungjung looked like he thought that was all well and good but Eungi remembered the kind of person Jungjung was - Jungjung could easily pretend something like that too well and Eungi wouldn't be able to cope, and his family would end up asking things that they weren't meant to - so he added, “You have to pretend to be my boyfriend and we will both pretend to not be going out with each other.”

Any comprehension on Jungjung’s face shattered in an instant. That was more like it. He was so well-meaning, but he was often too enthusiastic. If Eungi didn't explain things as properly as possible, things would be terrible and Kenta and Insoo would live to regret their suggestion. The only thing was that Eungi wasn't sure how to explain things in a way that Jungjung would understand. Eungi liking men was something of an open secret. Nobody ever mentioned it directly, but Eungi heard the thinly veiled snipes and he saw his parents’ tired smiles when some reference to not getting many grandchildren was made - though Eungi thought that was hardly fair! His brother was already planning for a child with his wife and everyone knew that child would be delightful! As far as grandchildren were concerned, surely quality was desired over quantity.

The least that Eungi could do for his parents was make the rest of the family quiet down about things like that. In fact they had said, “Show them that you are serious about this! I don't like hearing things about my son having a face that only a mother could love!”

Eungi knew very well that he had a face that lots of people loved and he had slept with plenty of people to prove it. When he mildly put this to his parents, his dad gave him a withering stare and said, “I really don't want to hear how popular you can be through beer goggles. Just get yourself a boyfriend to bring to the wedding. Or ask one of your friends to pretend.”

Eungi had taken exception to the beer goggles comment, and it was only made worse by his mum having a carefully timed coughing fit and the sound of his brother guffawing from the kitchen. He took exception once more when he relayed the story to Insoo and Kenta. They didn't even feign sympathy for a second before they dissolved into a fit of giggles. Worse than that, they both flatly refused to be Eungi’s fake boyfriend and he was stuck.

“You have already given up on the idea of getting an actual boyfriend then?” Insoo asked, mirth still clinging to his lips where he had drooled a bit from laughing too hard.

It wasn't that he had given up, it just didn't seem feasible to get a boyfriend in time and have no expectations after going to a wedding so soon after meeting.

After he had eventually stopped hiccupping and complaining about a headache from laughing too much, Kenta had suggested Jungjung because apparently he would be good at pretending to be someone's boyfriend.

Kenta had actually specified that Jungjung would be good at being Eungi’s boyfriend - he forgot to mention the pretending - and he had placed too much emphasis on saying Eungi should tell Jungjung to be his boyfriend, rather than ask him. Eungi had been too shocked to suggest Kenta revise some of his vocabulary. Instead he had followed the terrible advice and asked Jungjung three days prior to the event.

Jungjung was a good sport, so his attendance to the wedding (and eating whatever dining option Eungi had randomly selected for himself and his plus-one at the behest of his parents several months ago) was easy enough to confirm. The issue was what sort of plus-one Jungjung would be.

“You want us to go out with each other?” Jungjung asked a little shakily. Eungi was going to have to fake his own death because he had just wasted far too long trying to explain the concept to Jungjung, only for him to somehow read between the lines and discover the terrible secret love for Jungjung that Eungi had been harbouring since the day they met.

“Never mind,” Eungi mumbled, simply ecstatic that they had met at a pub so that Eungi could drink himself four days into the future and skip the wedding altogether. He raised his hand to order more jokbal and dubu-kimchi to go with the three bottles of soju he had already mentally lined up before looking to see whether Jungjung wanted anything.

“You want to be my boyfriend?” Jungjung said unhelpfully. The waitress rolled her eyes and went to fetch more food and booze for Eungi. Jungjung’s confusion must have been inebriating enough without drinking. He was playing with a napkin while he spoke. Eungi wanted to leave.

“I said it doesn't matter.”

“Let me try to understand,” Jungjung pleaded. It wasn't fair for him to be so cute and earnest about this. He looked up from his napkin, determination stark on his face. “We will go out with each other. But pretend. So it is like a game. But we must also pretend that the game is a secret.”

Now Eungi was confused. he was well on his way to being unable to attend the wedding at all because of the world's worst hangover.

“It's fine,” Eungi sighed. It didn't matter. It would probably matter at the reception in three days when Eungi was sitting next to an empty seat and wondering whether it was a good enough excuse to cheat his diet.

“I’ll do it, Eungi!” Jungjung insisted. “I want to help you! I will marry you!”

The waitress had returned at this point and snorted very loudly. Eungi was half saved from his shock by having to awkwardly tell the waitress that this wasn't what it sounded like.

 

“It is wonderful to meet you,” Eungi’s mum said on the day of the wedding when Jungjung arrived to travel with Eungi’s family.

Jungjung looked amazing - obviously - and Eungi wondered how many perfect suits that Jungjung had that he could turn up at short notice looking like every one of Eungi’s dreams. Even without the suit, Jungjung was every one of Eungi’s dreams, but with the suit he was some unrealistic drama lead. Surely he had people swooning in the streets when he deigned to walk from his sleek, foreign car into his impossibly tall, crystalline skyscraper that he had built with what he thought of as pocket change.

Jungjung was polite too. He bowed deeply to Eungi’s parents and attempted some approximation of complimenting them on something or other. Eungi didn’t have a clue what Jungjung was trying to say and he doubted his parents did either, but he was dazzling enough that he could get away with saying whatever he wanted.

“Are you a real boyfriend, or just one of our Eungi’s friends?” Eungi’s dad asked cautiously. Eungi knew too well that he should have stuck with one of his other plans - faking his death and emigrating to Australia, or drinking so much that he became a time-traveller - but Jungjung was smiling brightly as though everything in the world was as it should be.

“That’s a secret,” Jungjung replied happily.

Eungi could hear his brother and his sister-in-law tittering from where they were ineffectually hiding in the doorway to the living room. He didn’t much like the sound. Eungi’s parents exchanged a strange look and smiled back at Jungjung.

 

“This hotel is so nice,” Jungjung said when they arrived. They were seated near the back of the bride’s party. Eungi was surprised that there were so many people around. There must have been over a hundred guests and there was no doubt more of them arriving for the reception later.

“It is nice,” Eungi agreed.

“I want to get married in a place like this,” Jungjung said with a smile.

Eungi was certain that sort of thing was very possible. He knew that Jungjung didn’t want for nice things. He had enough money to be able to play around and do whatever he wanted. It must have been nice. Eungi’s family were quite well-off too, but they would have to save up for a wedding like this, not like Jungjung who could get married in an even nicer hotel tomorrow if he felt like it.

“Will you marry me in a place like this?” Jungjung asked. He made an inflated show of looking surprised before saying, “Whoops. I talk too much!”

He winked and Eungi turned to glare at his brother who was snickering into his wife’s shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Eungi asked.

“The game,” Jungjung whispered back. He looked very pleased with himself. Eungi wished he could feel the same. He wanted the ceremony to be over so he could take off his jacket and escape the prickling heat that was stinging at his skin. He also wished he could escape the scorching heat of Jungjung’s hand on his thigh - like it was nothing!

“You don’t have to act to this extent, Hyung,” Eungi said. “It will mostly be at the reception. People might ask questions and we should be ambiguous about our replies.”

“Ambiguous?”

“Vague.”

Jungjung nodded, but he frowned a bit and leaned closer to Eungi. “But should I do less? Am I not doing well?”

“You’re doing a very good job,” Eungi said placatingly. He patted Jungjung’s hand and grasped it lightly before casually placing Jungjung’s hand on his own lap and away from Eungi’s lap which still prickled where he had been touched.

“Ah, young love,” Eungi’s sister-in-law sighed. She elbowed Eungi’s brother and said, “Remember when we used to flirt so shamelessly, dear?”

“I don’t remember ever being as shameless as our precious Eungi,” his brother said, hyperbolising wistfulness. Jungjung looked proud. That made one of them. Eungi sunk lower in his seat and hoped the day would end quickly.

“You’ve done well, for once, Eungi,” His mum said with the too-smug smirk that had been etched onto her face for most of the day. “Did you see your auntie’s face when she saw you walking in with Jungjung? She looked ready to spit teeth! For months she has been so smug about how all of her children are getting married and having children but what does that matter now? There is no better revenge in this life than wealth and good looks."

Eungi couldn’t help but notice his auntie’s face because his mum kept nudging him and hissing at him to look before she put on pretend grace to greet her elder sister. Even his cousin, on her special day, had been looking over with keen interest when she saw Jungjung. The lines of her face were tight as Eungi’s family (plus Jungjung) posed for a photograph with her. He was clearly catching many people’s eyes and it seemed to be making his parents happy. They weren’t usually such petty people, but Eungi supposed when you got older the things you took pleasure in changed.

Eungi hoped Jungjung wasn’t offended that he was something to rub in the faces of Eungi’s relatives but Eungi doubted he was listening. Jungjung was doing something very strange with his mouth. The hangover he had wished for a few days ago had arrived.

“Hyung, what are you doing right now?”

Jungjung paused and then smiled. “I was wondering what ‘splitting teeth’ was.”

“Spitting teeth.”

Jungjung nodded and repeated the phrase before returning to doing strange mouth exercises. Eungi swatted at his arm.

“It only means to be angry.”

“Oh.” Jungjung looked put out by that but he was smiling again before long. “I couldn’t hear very well, but I think your family likes me.”

“That’s right. We all like you,” Eungi’s dad said in a bored voice. He was only putting on airs. Eungi knew too well that he had been grinning along with Eungi’s mum about how shocked they all were by Eungi’s standards. Jungjung probably didn’t know so much about it but thanked Eungi’s dad and knocked his shoulder into Eungi’s cheerily.  

 

The wedding was going much better than Eungi had imagined. He might have to let Insoo and Kenta live after all. It wasn’t just Eungi’s immediate family who liked Jungjung, but also most of his extended family. They all seemed interested enough as they approached the table where Eungi and Jungjung were sitting at the reception and asked them questions that mainly veered off the spectrum of politeness. It was nice enough, but they should have been doing this to the bride and groom, not Eungi and his fake date who were here to spite his auntie.

“Today is so fun,” Jungjung commented in a rare moment of quiet.

“I am glad that you think so.”

Jungjung giggled a bit and slipped his hand into Eungi’s. It was nice despite Eungi’s internal decay due to getting too much of what he wanted.

“We will dance a lot, won’t we?” Jungjung asked.

“That’s right. I love dancing with you, Hyung, so we have to dance together even after we both get tired.”

“That’s right,” Eungi’s brother grinned, butting in from across the table. “You need to be the last people dancing so that mum and auntie can fight about you ruining our cousin’s wedding.”

Eungi’s mum sniffed primly. “They kicked up a fuss at my precious eldest son’s wedding. I think it is only fair that we return the favour.”

That was fair enough, Eungi supposed. There were a great many things at Eungi’s brother’s wedding the year before that weren’t good enough in the wise and wonderful opinion of their auntie. The food was flavourless,  and the bride’s dress was tacky, and the seats were uncomfortable, and the cake was small, and the botanical gardens where they held the wedding was a cheap venue. Their auntie clearly knew that because she was a wedding expert. Apparently. Eungi remembered his mum’s rage clearly and was happy he could at least make his mum happy to this extent.

Jungjung knew none of this and was innocently smiling along as he swung Eungi’s hand in his own.

“When can we dance?” Jungjung asked.

“We have to wait for the bride and groom to dance first,” Eungi said slowly.

Jungjung nodded but it was difficult to tell whether he didn’t understand or simply didn’t care because he said, “I want to dance now.”

“It’s a wedding. The bride and groom must dance first,” Eungi tried to explain.

“Eungi. Please,” Jungjung implored, on the tail end of a whine. He clasped Eungi’s hand in both of his and pecked at each knuckle delicately.

“We can’t. There isn’t even any music.”

“Just dance, Eungi.”

“But, Dad-”

“Go, just go! Dance!” Eungi’s dad barked. Even Jungjung flinched at that and when Eungi looked back at his dad he was flushed. “All this time you have been dancing when I didn’t want you to. Now that I am telling you to dance you aren’t going to do it? Do you just not like listening to me, Eungi?”

“That isn’t it,” Eungi muttered. He stood quickly and tugged on Jungjung’s hand. They walked over to the empty space that would make up the dance floor later in the evening. Or right at that moment because Eungi was being forced into the space now.

Jungjung was still gripping Eungi’s hand tightly and smiled as they passed people. It was more restrained than the one he turned on Eungi when they reached the wooden floor.

“Our first fight as a couple. Your dad took my side,” Jungjung said with a proud smile.

“Are we a couple now?” Eungi asked wearily. They were only standing at the edge of the dance floor and Jungjung twirled enough to wrap his arms around Eungi. He nodded.

“I think I am playing too many games. My head is getting muddled,” Jungjung admitted quietly as they began to sway to the sound of conversation and the clattering of cutlery against plates and bowls, and the scrape of chairs, and the click of footsteps.

“You’re playing games?”

Jungjung nodded again. They stepped slowly around the dance floor, not really dancing and not really minding. “I keep forgetting so my head hurts a bit. That was why we had to leave your family. It is too hard to understand them when my head hurts like this.”

“I’m sorry, Hyung. Thank you for doing this favour for me.”

Jungjung dipped his head closer. “That isn’t right. Thank you for asking me. I finally have an excuse to do something nice for you. And you let me play this game with you.”

“You like this game?” Eungi asked. His voice was a bit tight and maybe it would be easier to breathe if his chest wasn’t so close to Jungjung’s. He hadn’t been able to forget that it was all pretend, but going through the motions of holding hands and acting coy when asked how they became ‘friends’ was nice. Eungi could get used to that sort of thing.

Jungjung pouted for a moment. “Maybe I don’t like it. It is difficult.”

That was understandable. It had been difficult enough to try to explain the concept and he had been surprised that Jungjung even understood to this extent.

Jungjung leaned even closer, his lips barely brushing Eungi’s ear. “We are going out with each other. You and I. But it is a game. But we must pretend that we are not going out with each other. And I must pretend that I am doing this for you.”

“What does that mean?” Eungi muttered, trying to laugh a bit. The sound was wrong and his face was beginning to hurt.  

“Since a while ago I have been playing another game,” Jungjung whispered. “I like you and I have to pretend that I don’t. When you asked me to come with you I was happy. I almost stopped playing the game because I was so happy. But you said more words that made me unhappy. But I was still playing the game. It was alright.”

“Hyung?” Eungi’s feet faltered as he tried to pull back but Jungjung held firm and even tucked his chin over Eungi’s shoulder.

“Please, don’t try to look at me,” Jungjung hissed.

“Why?”

“Red.”

“What?”

“My face is red. Very red. You can’t look.”

“Everybody else can see your red face except for me?” Eungi asked. His face was red too and as they slowly turned he could see the faces of the wedding party which meant they could see him too. It seemed that Jungjung considered Eungi’s words for a moment because he allowed them enough space to be able to look at once another. Jungjung hadn’t been lying. His face was very red.

“Even you can get embarrassed,” Eungi said with a small smile. Jungjung wasn’t smiling. He looked worried. Frightened, even.

“I am sorry that I stopped playing the game,” Jungjung whispered.

“Hyung, it’s fine,” Eungi said quickly.

“If you’d like, I can play the game again. When today ends, I will continue to play.”

“I wouldn’t like that,” Eungi said. He was biting at his words before they were even on his tongue. He needed to know whether he was misunderstanding. “Is the game that you like me or not?”

Jungjung shook his head. “I don’t know. I like you. I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Eungi said. “I like you too. I’m sorry.”

Jungjung squeaked. His hands were opening and closing against Eungi’s back as though he wasn’t sure what he was doing with them. He was usually so certain and it was nice to see Jungjung shaken over something like this, but it scared Eungi too. Maybe they could both agree to play the game. After today, if things weren’t good, they could both play the game.

“I want to kiss you,” Eungi said quickly. Jungjung squeaked again and nuzzled his face into Eungi’s neck. He was mumbling something. Eungi couldn’t hear it but he could feel the movement of Jungjung’s mouth against his neck. Perhaps he was being mean. He patted Jungjung on the back hesitantly. “Hyung?”

Jungjung didn’t move. Eungi patted him again to no avail. And then there was soft music. Jungjung lifted his head quickly, almost smiling.

“We should dance,” Jungjung said, nodding rapidly at his own words. “Real dancing. Let’s do it.”

Eungi didn’t have a chance to reply before Jungjung had separated from him in perfect pirouettes. He felt a bit less stupid for testing his trousers to see how much he could move in them that morning. His brother had laughed as Eungi lowered himself into the splits several times, but at least he had known how much give was in the fabric.

Eungi had danced with Jungjung before. They had danced together in a professional capacity just as often as they did just for fun, choreographing short passages of music, just a few bars here and there in different styles. Contemporary dancing was where they blended the best, Eungi thought as Jungjung stripped himself of his jacket, his shirt pulling slightly against the muscles of his back and shoulders, and held an arm out to Eungi.

Eungi already knew that they moved well together from past experience, but this surpassed all of that. There was something sorrowful about the music as Eungi and Jungjung leapt and spun nimbly, but Eungi couldn’t think of a time when he had been happier.

There wasn’t anything choreographed about how they moved today, but it seemed that even their breathing was in tandem with the gentle swells of the instrumentation.

Everything about Jungjung was beautiful as even his fingertips moved tenderly and they reached out for one another over and over until, at last, they parted.

There was a small smattering of applause and Eungi went to retrieve the blazers that he and Jungjung had discarded a few minutes before. Jungjung slipped his blazer back on and Eungi did the same. When they returned to the table where Eungi’s family were seated, Eungi couldn’t help but notice the smarmy grin on his mum’s face.

“Did you see, did you see?” She asked eagerly. “Noona is really annoyed!”

Eungi didn’t think that he wanted to see and he shoved Jungjung’s shoulder to stop him from craning his neck so much.

Eungi’s dad was smiling a bit less. He fixed Jungjung with a stern look. “Jungjung, what are your intentions with our youngest son?”

“Dad!”

Jungjung looked blankly back before looking around the table. Eungi’s brother and his wife were snickering behind their hands and Eungi revisited his stance on time-travel. Surely if he drank enough now he could even go back in time and prevent this conversation from happening.

“Intentions?” Jungjung asked. “Forgive me, but I don’t understand.”

Eungi’s dad huffed a bit. “Friend? Boyfriend? Are you playing around with my son?”

“Dad, please,” Eungi said, hoping that the subject would be dropped. It took a few more minutes, and the rest of Eungi’s family pleading too, but his dad finally stopped asking awkward questions. Jungjung didn’t say much after than though.  

 

Jungjung didn’t even say much in the back of Eungi’s brother’s car when they dropped him at home.

“It was very nice to meet you today,” Eungi’s brother said when he switched off the car engine.

“Yes, I hope to see you again soon,” Eungi’s sister-in-law said while making faces at Eungi in the rearview mirror. That was excessive. Eungi was sure that Jungjung could see the faces. Eungi had already  intended to walk Jungjung to his door at the very least.

When they got to Jungjung’s door, however, Eungi was at a loss. Jungjung wasn’t going inside, but he wasn’t saying anything either. They were just standing on the street outside Jungjung’s block of flats and staring at one another.

Eungi thought he had better talk first.

“I still want to kiss you,” He said. Jungjung bit his lip.

“Are we still playing?" Jungjung asked, cautious and quiet.

Eungi didn’t want to be playing. He didn’t want liking each other to be a game, and he didn’t want conversations to be confusing. He shook his head. Jungjung still looked uncertain. Eungi wished that the concept of games had never come into it.

“I like you, Jungjung-hyung,” Eungi said with as much determination as he could. “We have been friends for a while, but I have been hoping for more than just friendship. Do you understand?”

Jungjung blinked a few times. He nodded. “I understand.”

“I have been worrying about this for a while. I didn’t want to confess because things were fine. But, they’re not fine now.”

“They’re not?” Jungjung asked, surprised.

“That’s right, Hyung, they’re not,” Eungi confirmed. “You told me that you like me and I can’t ignore that. So, will you go out with me?”

Jungjung gaped for a moment before nodding his head and all but launching himself at Eungi. Eungi staggered for a moment before he regained his footing and lifted Jungjung, ever so slightly, into the air. Jungjung squealed as he dropped back to the ground cheerily.

“Do you like me? Really? Eungi?” Jungjung asked.

“Hyung, you just agreed to be my boyfriend,” Eungi groaned. Jungjung nodded and wrapped his arms around Eungi again, tightly enough that Eungi was struggling to breathe. But at least this time it wasn’t because this was a strange game where he didn’t know the rules.

Eungi was happy, but he was also very aware of his brother and sister-in-law plastering themselves to the car windows to watch. Eungi only pressed his lips to Jungjung’s cheek quickly. He pulled away slowly, relishing the scarlet of Jungjung’s face.

“Hyung, I’ll see you tomorrow. Sleep well.”

Jungjung waved at the car until Eungi could no longer see him. Eungi felt too warm on the way home, but he was mostly pleased that things had gone so well. Not only the wedding not been a disaster, but Insoo and Kenta would get to keep their lives. It was a good day.


End file.
